Developer Guides

Welcome to the Android developer guides. These documents teach you how to build Android apps using APIs in the Android framework and other libraries.

If you're brand new to Android and want to jump into code, start with the Build Your First App tutorial.

And check out these other resources to learn Android development:

• Codelabs: Short, self-paced tutorials that each cover a discrete topic. Most codelabs step you through the process of building a small app, or adding a new feature to an existing app.
• Courses: Guided training paths that teach you how to build Android apps.
• Online training: If you prefer to learn online with videos, check out the Developing Android Apps with Kotlin course on Udacity (trailer embedded here), and other online courses below.

Otherwise, the following is a small selection of essential developer guides that you should be familiar with.

Essential documentation

Performance and power

Implementing a cool idea is a great start toward an app that delights users, but it's just the beginning. The next step is maximizing your app's performance. For example, users want apps that: This section provides you with the know-how you need in

Intents and Intent Filters

An Intent is a messaging object you can use to request an action from another app component . Although intents facilitate communication between components in several ways, there are three fundamental use cases: An Activity represents a single screen in…

Notifications Overview

A notification is a message that Android displays outside your app's UI to provide the user with reminders, communication from other people, or other timely information from your app. Users can tap the notification to open your app or take an action

Introduction to animations

Animations can add visual cues that notify users about what's going on in your app. They are especially useful when the UI changes state, such as when new content loads or new actions become available. Animations also add a polished look to your app,

Screen compatibility overview

Android runs on a variety of devices that have different screen sizes and pixel densities. The system performs basic scaling and resizing to adapt your user interface to different screens, but there is more work you should do to ensure your UI

Request location updates

Appropriate use of location information can be beneficial to users of your app. For example, if your app helps the user find their way while walking or driving, or if your app tracks the location of assets, it needs to get the location of the

Styles and Themes

Styles and themes on Android allow you to separate the details of your app design from the UI structure and behavior, similar to stylesheets in web design. A style is a collection of attributes that specify the appearance for a single View. A style

Fundamentals of Testing

Users interact with your app on a variety of levels, from pressing a button to downloading information onto their device. Accordingly, you should test a variety of use cases and interactions as you iteratively develop your app. As your app expands,

Layouts

A layout defines the visual structure for a user interface, such as the UI for an activity or app widget . You can declare a layout in two ways: The Android framework gives you the flexibility to use either or both of these methods for declaring and managing…

Build for billions

Determine sensitive data access needs

App permissions help support user privacy by protecting access to the following: This page provides an overview to how Android permissions work, including a high-level workflow for using permissions, descriptions of different types of permissions,

Application Fundamentals

Android apps can be written using Kotlin, Java, and C++ languages. The Android SDK tools compile your code along with any data and resource files into an APK, an Android package, which is an archive file with an.apk suffix. One APK file contains all

Implement security by design for your apps

Our goal is to make Android the safest mobile platform in the world. That's why we consistently invest in technologies that bolster the security of the platform, its apps, and the global Android ecosystem. It's a responsibility we

Introduction to Activities

An Activity is an application component that provides a screen with which users can interact in order to do something, such as dial the phone, take a photo, send an email, or view a map. Each activity is given a window in which to draw its user interface…

Data and file storage overview

Android uses a file system that's similar to disk-based file systems on other platforms. The system provides several options for you to save your app data: The characteristics of these options are summarized in the following table: The solution you

Build TV apps

Android offers a rich user experience that's optimized for apps running on large screen devices, such as high-definition televisions. Apps on TV offer new opportunities to delight your users from the comfort of their couch. TV apps use the same

Start building apps for Chrome OS

Chrome OS devices, such as Chromebooks, now support the Google Play Store and Android apps. This article assumes you have an existing Android app designed for phones or tablets that you want to optimize for Chromebooks. To learn the basics of

App resources overview

Resources are the additional files and static content that your code uses, such as bitmaps, layout definitions, user